Carlsen Beats Nakamura in Shamkir, Clear First Again

Magnus Carsen is the sole leader again at the Shamkir Chess tournament in Azerbaijan. The World Champion was worse against Hikaru Nakamura but won anyway to set his personal score with the American to 10 wins and 0 losses in classical games. The games Radjabov-Mamedyaro and Karjakin-Caruana ended in draws. In the B group Pavel Eljanov caught Etienne Bacrot in first place by winning their individual encounter.

The seventh round of the Shamkir Chess tournament started with two rather quick draws. The game between Teimour Radjabov and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov was a rather friendly affair, like so many encounters between the two Azeri top players have been. In fact, of their eight previous classical games that can be found in the database, only one did not end in a draw - the one at the 2010 Astrakhan Grand Prix, when Mamedyarov mysteriously lost on time.

Today the two played an English/Catalan hybrid where White enjoys a tiny edge. Radjabov played it safe with 15.Qe2, and soon after almost all the pieces were traded.

Mamedyarov & Radjabov after their game | Photo: Ahmed Mukhtar

Sergey Karjakin and Fabiano Caruana reached move 51, but the game really lasted only 23 moves. From a 8.Rb1 Gruenfeld, in no time an ending was reached that looked familiar to experts: it was from Giri-Caruana, Zug 2013.

“I went for this ending Anish Giri also played. I thought it was a pleasant endgame, winning chances. If Black knows what he's doing it's probably objectively a draw,” said Karjakin. “Chess is a draw. I thought the line was not simple, but perhaps I was wrong.”

“After the game I realized it's a very tricky ending and I analyzed it very deeply, but I couldn't remember everything. It's a little bit worse for Black but objectively it should be defendable,” said Caruana.

Karjakin, who has drawn all of his games, said about the final three rounds: “Anything can happen. Maybe I will be first, maybe I will be last. I'm in a philosophical mood today.”

Karjakin & Caruana discussing the ending | Photo: Ahmed Mukhtar

Every round in the A group there has been at least one decisive game, and it wasn't different on Sunday. Magnus Carlsen also won his second game in Shamkir against Hikaru Nakamura, and so it's the World Champion again who tops the standings alone, with three rounds to go.

Yet again Nakamura managed to get a promising position (during their press conference Caruana and Karjakin agreed that it was dangerous for Carlsen), only to spoil the advantage and even lose. It reminded of course of the dramatic game he played against the same opponent in February in Zurich, but there it was different: Nakamura was clearly winning.

Today the American GM had a big advantage and felt he was winning, but he couldn't point out after the game where exactly. It's probably move 26.

After missing his chance, Nakamura was still better. “To lose this position is pathetic basically. Can't find any other words to describe,” Nakamura said himself. “To lose this position takes a lot of talent.”

#GashimovMemorial Impossible not to feel some sympathy for Nakamura. He must be so sick of Sauron/Carlsen by now...

The B group is suddenly all open as tournament leader Etienne Bacrot lost his first game, to Pavel Eljanov. The two are now in shared first place with two rounds to go. Eljanov has White against Guseinov and Black against Abasov, while Bacrot has Black against Motylev and White against Safarli.

Bacrot-Eljanov, the key game in group B today

Shamkir Chess 2014 | A | Pairings & results

Round 1

20.04.14

15:00 AZST

Round 6

26.04.14

15:00 AZST

Carlsen

1-0

Mamedyarov

Mamedyarov

0-1

Carlsen

Nakamura

½-½

Caruana

Caruana

½-½

Nakamura

Karjakin

½-½

Radjabov

Radjabov

½-½

Karjakin

Round 2

21.04.14

15:00 AZST

Round 7

27.04.14

15:00 AZST

Mamedyarov

½-½

Radjabov

Radjabov

½-½

Mamedyarov

Caruana

½-½

Karjakin

Karjakin

½-½

Caruana

Carlsen

1-0

Nakamura

Nakamura

0-1

Carlsen

Round 3

22.04.14

15:00 AZST

Round 8

28.04.14

15:00 AZST

Nakamura

1-0

Mamedyarov

Mamedyarov

-

Nakamura

Karjakin

½-½

Carlsen

Carlsen

-

Karjakin

Radjabov

½-½

Caruana

Caruana

-

Radjabov

Round 4

23.04.14

15:00 AZST

Round 9

29.04.14

15:00 AZST

Karjakin

½-½

Mamedyarov

Caruana

-

Mamedyarov

Radjabov

½-½

Nakamura

Radjabov

-

Carlsen

Caruana

1-0

Carlsen

Karjakin

-

Nakamura

Round 5

24.04.14

15:00 AZST

Round 10

30.04.14

13:00 AZST

Mamedyarov

1-0

Caruana

Mamedyarov

-

Karjakin

Carlsen

0-1

Radjabov

Nakamura

-

Radjabov

Nakamura

½-½

Karjakin

Carlsen

-

Caruana

Shamkir Chess 2014 | A | Round 7 Standings

#

Name

Rtg

Perf

1

2

3

4

5

6

Pts

SB

1

Carlsen,M

2881

2864

0

0

½

11

11

4.5/7

2

Radjabov,T

2713

2835

1

½

½½

½

½½

4.0/7

3

Caruana,F

2783

2778

1

½

½½

½½

0

3.5/7

13.00

4

Karjakin,Sergey

2772

2772

½

½½

½½

½

½

3.5/7

12.50

5

Nakamura,Hi

2772

2747

00

½

½½

½

1

3.0/7

6

Mamedyarov,S

2760

2686

00

½½

1

½

0

2.5/7

Shamkir Chess 2014 | B | Pairings & results

Round 1

20.04.14

15:00 AZST

Round 2

21.04.14

15:00 AZST

Wojtaszek

½-½

Durarbayli

Durarbayli

0-1

Bacrot

Eljanov

½-½

Mamedov

Guseinov

½-½

Wang Hao

Motylev

½-½

Abasov

Abasov

½-½

Safarli

Safarli

½-½

Guseinov

Mamedov

0-1

Motylev

Wang Hao

½-½

Bacrot

Wojtaszek

0-1

Eljanov

Round 3

22.04.14

15:00 AZST

Round 4

23.04.14

15:00 AZST

Eljanov

½-½

Durarbayli

Durarbayli

0-1

Guseinov

Motylev

0-1

Wojtaszek

Abasov

½-½

Bacrot

Safarli

½-½

Mamedov

Mamedov

1-0

Wang Hao

Wang Hao

½-½

Abasov

Wojtaszek

1-0

Safarli

Bacrot

1-0

Guseinov

Eljanov

½-½

Motylev

Round 5

24.04.14

15:00 CET

Round 6

26.04.14

15:00 AZST

Motylev

½-½

Durarbayli

Durarbayli

½-½

Abasov

Safarli

0-1

Eljanov

Mamedov

½-½

Guseinov

Wang Hao

½-½

Wojtaszek

Wojtaszek

½-½

Bacrot

Bacrot

1-0

Mamedov

Eljanov

0-1

Wang Hao

Guseinov

0-1

Abasov

Motylev

1-0

Safarli

Round 7

27.04.14

15:00 CET

Round 8

28.04.14

15:00 AZST

Safarli

½-½

Durarbayli

Durarbayli

-

Mamedov

Wang Hao

1-0

Motylev

Wojtaszek

-

Abasov

Bacrot

0-1

Eljanov

Eljanov

-

Guseinov

Guseinov

½-½

Wojtaszek

Motylev

-

Bacrot

Abasov

½-½

Mamedov

Safarli

-

Wang Hao

Round 9

29.04.14

15:00 AZST

Wang Hao

-

Durarbayli

Bacrot

-

Safarli

Guseinov

-

Motylev

Abasov

-

Eljanov

Mamedov

-

Wojtaszek

Shamkir Chess 2014 | B | Round 7 Standings

#

Name

Rtg

Perf

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

0

Pts

SB

1

Eljanov,Pavel

2732

2781

1

0

1

½

½

½

1

4.5/7

15.00

2

Bacrot,Etienne

2722

2753

0

½

½

1

1

½

1

4.5/7

15.00

3

Wang Hao

2734

2715

1

½

½

½

1

0

½

4.0/7

15.75

4

Wojtaszek,Radoslaw

2716

2726

0

½

½

½

1

½

1

4.0/7

13.00

5

Guseinov,Gadir

2621

2705

0

½

½

½

1

1

½

4.0/7

12.00

6

Motylev,Alexander

2685

2657

½

0

0

1

½

½

1

3.5/7

7

Mamedov,Rauf

2660

2617

½

0

1

½

0

½

½

3.0/7

10.75

8

Abasov,Nijat

2516

2616

½

½

0

½

½

½

½

3.0/7

9.75

9

Durarbayli,Vasif

2584

2562

½

0

½

0

½

½

½

2.5/7

10

Safarli,Eltaj

2656

2486

0

0

½

0

½

½

½

2.0/7

The rounds start at 12:00 Amsterdam, 6am New York and 3am Los Angeles time. The official website is www.shamkirchess.az. Chess.com offers daily live commentary at www.chess.com/tv. Games via TWIC.

"Carlsen... has accumulated as many wins as the rest of the field combined!"

Yes! Four wins for Carlsen, and one each for Radjabov, Caruana, Nakamura, and Mamedyarov. Whether he wins or loses in the end, it's clear that Carlsen has been the main driving force of this tournament so far.

Well, he gets 3.5 ELO for beating him at current rating levels. Slightly more when his rating was lower and/or Hikaru's was higher. But as a back of the envelope calculation, 3.5 * 10 = 35 is maybe not too far off. Of course Magnus loses ELO when he draws with Hikaru, but I guess yeah, the wins taken alone are responsible for something like 30 of Magnus's 2881?

False, those kind of players are not in the top 10. Sure Nakamura was extremely agressive as a junior, but as a junior even Carlsen was aggresive. Now Naka's game is solid, and less tactic that for example Mamedyarov

Don't know if this is fair, but perhaps Naka, might be compared to Frank Marshall. Both play a dynamic, uncompromising style, Marshall did very well, except against the very best. Marshall played 100 years ago, and still his games are examples of how to attack. He contributed to chess theory. So while it would be nice maybe for an American to do better, for now maybe Carlsen has Naka's number. I also think, that Anand has rebounded and shown that he still has some fire in his belly. The next WC match will be interesting. Anand won't have anything to lose, and I think we will see more of the uncomprising style from earlier in his career.

I suspect that Nakamura talks 'trash' about Carlsen, in an effort to try and convince himself that he should be able to beat him. Unfortuneately, the number of 'lost oportunities' is mounting; and this can not be good for Naka's psyche ....

One day, Nakamura WILL win; and when that happens, you will see a new Nakamura when he faces off with Carlsen ... hoping so anyways. :)

After missing his chance, Nakamura was still better. “To lose this position is pathetic basically. Can't find any other words to describe,” Nakamura said himself. “To lose this position takes a lot of talent.”

He's very humble, but has to put the loss aside.

Many thanks to the author for the article and for including links to past reports.

@Mr Marz I think they show the games based onthe order they finish.. so the game that finishes first gets showed first and so on. Nice tournament so far and great coverage!

for those of u who say Carlsen is boring and bad for chess are horribly mistaken. Out of 7 of his games 6 are decisive. If anything thats good for chess. besides his game always attracts the most attention so yea. Besides he is having a bad tournament and is still on top of the standings so far. Its nice to see the WC being dominant imo.

Also Nakamura is a top 10 player.. sure he has lost to Carlsen 10 times now but he keeps trying to go for a win and for the last 2 games he came close to the win. We might start see Nakamura and Carlsen having closer matches later on.

Glad to see Radjabov climbing back up. he is one of my favorate players besides Carlsen. Although I prefer Carlsen I was glad he won Carlsen. was good for his confidence and I hope he makes it back into the top 10.

I will say this is a wierd tournament. 5 rounds before the first rest day. not sure if that was a good decision. It must be hard on Magnus especially since he usually has the longest games every round. wonder how the tournament will turn out.

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